The Pine of Success and Onmayagashi, Asakusa River (Asakusagawa shubi no matsu Oumayagashi), from the series One Hundred Views of Edo (Meisho Edo Hyakkei)
Medium
Color woodblock print; ōban
Dimensions
35.3 × 24.3 cm (13 7/8 × 9 9/16 in.)
Classification
woodblock print
Department
Arts of Asia
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
60376
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
This print depicts a scene on the Sumida River, also known as the Asakusa River. The sun has set and the stars are already appearing in the clear sky of early evening. To the left is the famous Pine of Success, a tree that symbolized visitors’ desires to get their money’s worth in the nearby pleasure quarters of the Yoshiwara. In the lower left corner of the image, a roofed boat sits with its green blinds lowered, the figure of a woman silhouetted behind them. She must not be alone: two pairs of...
About the Artist
Utagawa Hiroshige · 1826–1869
Utagawa Hiroshige (1797–1858), born Andō Tokutarō, was the last great master of Japanese ukiyo-e woodblock printmaking and one of the most influential landscape artists in history. Born in Edo (modern Tokyo) into a low-ranking samurai family serving as fire wardens, Hiroshige transformed landscape printmaking into a poetic meditation on nature, weather, and everyday life. His revolutionary approac...